Fact Check: Texas Gov. Lieutenant Falsely Implies Blacks for Covid Rise

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The attacks escalated Thursday when Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick claimed African Americans were to blame for the growing wave of coronavirus cases.

Fox News was asked by Fox News to respond to criticism over the management of its pandemic state.

“The Covid is spreading,” Patrick said, “in particular, most of the numbers are from unvaccinated people and Democrats like to blame Republicans for that. Well, the largest group in most states. they are the African Americans who have not been vaccinated. ”

“The last time I saw that more than 90% of them were voting for Democrats,” Patrick said, adding that it’s up to Democrats and Republicans to vaccinate people.

Facts first: In raw numbers alone, black people, with about 13% of the total population, are not the “largest group” of unvaccinated people in either Texas or the United States. An analysis by the Kaiser Family Foundation found that white adults represent the larger share of unvaccinated adults. Even if we delve into the rates, Patrick’s implication that black people are especially to blame for the spread of the virus is not accurate.

According to data analyzed by KFF, blacks accounted for more than 50% of Covid-positive cases in just two of the 35 sites analyzed on August 16: the District of Columbia and Mississippi. Specifically, in the state of Texas, Patrick, blacks account for 15% of cases, Hispanics 52% and whites 32%.

In its response to CNN, Patrick’s office pointed to a Facebook post by the lieutenant governor that incorrectly stated that “federal and state data clearly indicate that vaccination rates against blacks are significantly lower than rates of whites. or Hispanics “.

At this point, Patrick is also wrong, as the data suggest that the difference between racial groups is not so clear. According to KFF’s self-reported data analysis, 65% of black adults said they had received at least one dose of the vaccine compared to 70% of white adults and 61% of Hispanic adults. A different KFF analysis says that in 40 states, 50% of white people are vaccinated and 40% of black people are vaccinated.

KFF’s analysis notes that “Hispanic and black people are still less likely than their white counterparts to receive a vaccine.” However, vaccination rates among blacks continue to rise while the rate among whites decreases.

The number of new daily Covid cases continues to rise in the state of Texas, up 24% in the past two weeks. The number of patients hospitalized with the virus also continues to increase. “Hospital capacity is worsening. Fatalities are rising faster,” the State Department of Health Services said. Wednesday.

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